Najib sets out priorities for Umno revamp
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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak shared his proposed transformations for the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) in a speech yesterday, saying the first priority was to strengthen the economic position of the country's ethnic Malays.
“Considering the fact that 67.9 per cent of the nation’s population is made up of them, enhancing their economy should be the primary agenda of the nation as it is pointless to have a developed nation where the majority are neglected.
“With that in mind, the Barisan Nasional and Umno have worked in creating multiple mediums to serve as an instrument to defend the rights of the Malays,” he said.
Najib said one of such instrument is the Bumiputera Economical Council (MEB) which would meet at least once a month in the presence of other Malay and Bumiputera agencies or bodies.
“There will also be the New Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Scheme [Superb], Educational aids and Bumiputera shares,” he said.
Najib said that the second transformation is to emphasise proper application of the Syariah followings.
“Umno as a party has always been in support of this and have in fact been an enabler for the practice of Syariah.
“The financial development of Islam here has developed steadily – up to 17 per cent in the last decade. Such Islamic sectors contribute about RM7.2billion (Bt72 billion) to the nations income and are expected to open up around 12,000 job opportunities by 2020,” he said.
The prime minister then said the third transformation would be to strengthen the development of the party so that future generations are aware of the expectations of the party prior to joining it.
“The fourth transformation would be to develop a form of “party machinery”, whereby every avenue, especially those provided by technology are used for the progress of the party.
“The fifth and final one would be to set a performance index for the party nationwide before the 14th general election. He added that the performance index would push members to fight for their parliamentary and state seats, ultimately resulting in the victory of Umno and Barisan Nasional.
“Through this approach, all the branches in all the states will be audited and evaluated, eventually enabling us to identify problems in the party.
“From this I hope people will find the party members more approachable and work with the best interests of the public in mind,” he said.
